1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to sports training aids. More particularly it relates to devices useful to improve a golfer's overall golf swing and golf game. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus capable of enhancing a golfer's grip, stance and posture and therefore the overall swing.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
The following description of the art related to the present invention refers to a number of publications and references. Discussion of such publications herein is given to provide a more complete background of the principles related to the present invention and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are necessarily prior art for patentability determination purposes.
The game of golf, essentially as we know it today, was invented in 15th Century Scotland. The first “13 Rules of Golf” were established in 1774. Since golf's inception, golfers have been trying to improve how to play the game, how to lower their score and more specifically, how to swing the golf club correctly resulting in maximized impact with the golf ball.
It is a well-known fact, proven by numerous tests, that movements of the body allow the golf swing to properly convey the desired power to propel the golf ball in a pre-determined direction, distance, height and trajectory. Proficient golfers are very aware of the necessary body movements and sequence. They also usually have sound mechanics when performing full or partial (short game) swings. In short, sound golfing skills require sound fundamentals.
Unfortunately for many aspiring golfers, the necessary fundamental body movements, sequence and mechanics that a good golfer must perform in order to hit the ball consistently are too numerous to remember. Accordingly, the golf swing becomes taxing, vexing, and its seemingly and preceived complex execution takes away from the game's enjoyment.
Because of the level of difficulty required to play with at least a moderate level of proficiency, many different aid devices, sold as swing trainers, have been developed and marketed over the years. The most effective golf swing trainers are designed to give the golfer feedback. In this context, feedback is information the body receives from the swing aid that can be used to execute a more effective golf swing. Feedback can be visual, verbal, and most importantly experiential. The player needs to experience and feel the proper swing.
A proper full golf swing has many different fundamental components. There appears to be general agreement that a golf swing comprises the fundamental elements related to the: (1) way the player grips the club, (2) player's stance and posture, (3) upswing or first part of the swing (from the address position to the top of the backswing), and (4) downswing or the second part of the swing (from the top of the backswing to the finish and follow-through).
Improving golfers' movements, including the timing of their swing's sequential elements, has given rise to numerous golf swing aids or training apparatuses and methods. Most of the devices and methods in the market are geared to reducing and/or eliminating variables and deviations inherent in the golf swing. Some of the most commonly recognized swing flaws, or flawed deviations from the correct mechanics of an effective golf swing, relate to: (1) grip, (2) stance and posture, (3) ball position and alignment relative to the players feet or to the target, (4) take away, (5) hip and shoulder turn during the backswing and downswing, (6) position of the body at impact, (7) follow through, (8) timing and tempo, (9) position at finish, and (10) overall balance.
US. Patent Application Ser. No. 2011/0165955 by Moore discloses and claims a golf swing aid device of limited utility. The device disclosed in the Moore application only attempts to promote a better turn and swing plane, which are sub-elements of one of the four fundamental elements of the golf swing. Moreover, that device is not easy to use and the movement it elicits is not natural or that helpful. For those reasons, that device appears to provide some feedback, but not necessarily the correct feedback necessary to enhance a golfer's swing.
An effective swing training device should, at a minimum: (1) help the golfer become physically and visually aware of the movement in the body required to execute a proper swing, and (2) strive to eliminate undesirable swing variations. A useful swing aid and training device can attain both of those goals by using effective feedback to promote proper golf swing mechanics, personalized to each user of the device.
The present invention illustrates the shortcomings of several of the devices in the market relative to their ability to teach and develop proper golf swing mechanics.